A friend of mine went to see Zig Ziglar speak, back in the day. He was an old school motivational speaker and he was 85 years old when my friend saw him on stage.
My favorite part of this story wasn’t what Zig spoke about that day. It’s the fact that after his speech was over, he sat in the back of the room and made notes on every other speaker’s presentation.
Now that’s someone committed to Mastery. In perpetuity.
I recently attended a private conference in London for professional magicians. I’m not even an amateur magician but I didn’t need to sneak in. They welcomed me. They just told me that non-magicians almost never attend a conference like that.
I was there to learn.
To learn from a place where most coaches will never go.
If you want to be preeminent as a coach, you need to stand out in the world. You’ll never stand out by reading what every other coach reads, or attending the trainings that every other coach attends.
The magic of preeminence happens in the overlap between different ideas, communities and talents.
In his fascinating book, The Medici Effect, Frans Johansson says that when you are different from most people around you this promotes open, divergent and even rebellious thinking: “Such a person is more prone to question traditions, rules, and boundaries—and to search for answers where others may not think to.”
Combining ideas and perspectives from different fields or different cultures will help you stand out by developing the most innovative ideas.
James Altucher recommends you strengthen your connection to the idea force inside of you by writing down ten ideas a day. Every single day. It’s like exercise, you build your idea muscle and it compounds over time.
Here are 3 types of idea lists he suggests you make:
- IDEA SEX. Combine two ideas to come up with a better idea.
- OLD TO NEW: Write out ten old ideas that you can make new.
- RIDICULOUS: Write out 10 ridiculous things you would invent.
At the Magic conference, I was fortunate to meet one of my magical heroes. Richard Turner is acknowledged as one of the best card magicians in the world. He’s so good, they made a Netflix documentary about him, called Dealt.
Oh, and one other thing…
He’s completely blind.
He’s been blind since he caught a virus at 9 years old. He’s now 68.
“No matter what hand you’re dealt, don’t let anyone tell you you can’t play.” – Richard Turner.
Here’s what I learned from one of the world’s best magicians. A man who does more impressive card tricks than most people who can actually see!
- Failure isn’t something you should be afraid of. It’s something you should strive for. Richard even made a mistake on stage, in front of many of the best magicians on the planet. It didn’t phase him for a moment. And not a single person in the room thought any less of him.
- If you can do something better than everyone else in the world, people will break down your door to be with you.
- In the game of life, stay focused on you. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t play. Don’t let anyone tell you that something’s impossible.
- In life and business, what separates losers from winners is how you respond when you’re dealt a bad hand or two.
- Success is about having the tenacity to break down any barrier.
Richard finished by reminding everyone that if you want to be extraordinary at something, practice it 14 hours a day, every day for 60 years!
96% of coaches will never do this
They’ll think like other coaches. They’ll read what other coaches read. They’ll hang out with coaches just like them.
They’ll have nothing innovative to say, or to create.
Roald Dahl once said, “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
I not only believe in magic, I look for it everywhere. It’s how I help my clients accomplish impossible things, again, and again. And I met another magician, at a social event, just last week.
Kevin Li is one of the youngest adult members at the world famous “Magic Castle” in Los Angeles. He was the youngest person to appear on the TV show “Penn & Teller Fool Us” and not only did he fool Penn and Teller, he even made Teller tear up when he watched him.
You see, Kevin is a proud Chinese American who weaves aspects of his heritage into his magic through his storytelling. This is a big part of how he has built one of the largest followings on social media for a magician. He’s gone viral time and time again for his magic.
What makes you most fascinating as a coach is precisely what you’re hiding the most, right now…
What aspects of your life do you keep hidden from your clients? What do you geek out on, late at night? And what fascinates you but you imagine no one else would be interested in?
I challenge you to begin to reveal this to your clients. I challenge you to come up with one idea that no other coach talks about. I challenge you to attend an event where you’re the only coach in the room. Or attend an event where you’re the least interesting person in the room. Because this is where the magic begins…
Love. Rich